UNODC and Islamic Republic of Iran signed a new Country Partnership Programme in Iran (2015 - 2019).
14 December 2015, Vienna - The UNODC Iran Country Partnership Programme (CPP) in the Islamic Republic of Iran was signed in an official ceremony in Vienna International Center between the Executive Director Yury Fedotov and the Iranian Minister of Interior and Secretary General of Drug Control Headquarters H.E. Mr. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli.
The Country Partnership Programme has been developed in the course of 2015 through a participatory cooperation of the UNODC Iran and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in consultation with the Mini-Dublin Group members and the EU presidency in Tehran.
This Programme aims to further strengthen the cooperation between the UNODC and Iran on drugs, crime, international criminal justice, corruption, and alternative livelihood through promoting United Nations standards and international best practices, as well as by facilitating bilateral, regional and international cooperation.
The Country Partnership Programme in Iran is made up of four sub-programmes and a cross cutting section:
Sub-Programme 1: Border Management and Illicit Trafficking is meant to strengthen national drugs, illicit chemical precursors' diversion interdiction capacities and regional/international cooperation initiatives.
Sub-Programme 2: Crime, Corruption and Criminal Justice, is meant to assist the country in promoting the effectiveness of its crime prevention and criminal justice policies and apparatus as well as in ratification and implementation of international instruments on crime and terrorism
Sub-Programme 3: Drug Demand Reduction and HIV Care, aims to assist national efforts in the areas of drug prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration, HIV treatment and care, harm reduction, and advocacy with a particular focus on vulnerable groups and settings.
Sub-Programme 4: Alternative Livelihoods and Sustainable Development, aims to support alternative livelihoods and sustainable development programmes at targeted areas of border provinces of Afghanistan and Iran.
UNODC Programme has embedded a cross-cutting component on Research and Analysis in its Programme which will concentrate on research and analysis, and assist in developing the national institutions in enhancing data and statistics collection and analysis.
Moreover, the Country Partnership Programme strategic goals is in line with the cooperation frameworks of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in Iran phase I 2012-2016 and the recently signed phase II 2017-2021 as it envisages the drug prevention and drug control as main pillars of cooperation between the UN and UNODC with the Government of Iran.
At the launching ceremony in Vienna, Executive Director Fedotov and Minister Fazli of Iran highlighted the role of both UNODC and the Iranian counterparts in successful implementation of the UNODC Country Partnership Programme in coming years, and further expressed readiness to continue strengthening the ties between the two sides in close collaboration with the international community in addressing the challenges of drugs, crime and terrorism.